It's Haught
by Lawral
Summary: FICLETS! With one look of Nicole in the 1.12 Sneak Peak, I was hit with two ideas. So I decided to put them together.
1. Chapter 1

"Why don't you make me?"

Waverly saw bright brown eyes sparkle with a playful challenge. Glancing down, Nicole's soft lips pulled back as she smiled; the same smile that had taken her breath away during that first meeting in Shorty's. Confidence had radiated off the new, young officer as she flirted in the empty bar. It was that smile and confidence that had pulled Waverly in so rapidly that she knew she was a goner as she blushed at the sight of a business card.

She'd already admitted that it wasn't easy to be brazen around Nicole, and since she'd already thrown caution to the wind, Waverly quickly gathered her courage once more and leaned forward to accept the challenge she'd been presented with.

Kissing Nicole was so much different than Champ; her lips were soft and the woman was a mixture of gentle and dominating as the redhead took control of their positioning. Waverly felt a momentary surge of fear as Nicole laid her back on Nedley's couch. It was only once she felt the woman's lips on hers again that the feeling dissipated.

Nails scraped over the fabric covering her hip causing warmth to settle in her stomach as her left hand found the back of Nicole's braid, making sure that she couldn't move too far away as Waverly also hoisted her leg over the officer's hip. Her breath hitched as weight covered her body; a comfortable portion that belonged to a body that seemed to mold to her own like a puzzle piece firing snuggling into a neighboring piece.

Nicole ran her finger over Waverly's lip, tenderly caressing her; Champ had _never_ made her feel as important as she felt in that moment. The smile that broke on Nicole's face made her smile in return; that smile made her heart skip and her stomach flutter. It was definitely her Kryptonite. Waverly pulled her forward again, capturing her now slightly swollen lips into another heated kiss.

It took another few passionate, short kisses before Waverly was brought back to reality. A combination of Nicole's fingernails finding the half-inch gap between her undershirt and the hem of her pants, as well as the warm moisture of Nicole's tongue making contact with her bottom lip had the younger Earp pulling away.

"Wait, wait." Waverly cried breathily.

Instantly the weight of Nicole was missing from her chest. Swallowing hard, she lifted her gaze to find that Nicole had put roughly six inches between them, her left hand still lying against the smaller girl's waist.

"I'm sorry. Sorry, I-" Nicole moved only a fraction before Waverly placed her fingers on either side of her jaw, kissing her softly once more.

"Don't," Waverly whispered, finding Nicole's eyes once more. "I should be the one who's sorry. Yesterday-"

Nicole shook her head, leaning back, moving more of her weight off of the smaller girl. Waverly let her leg fall slightly as Nicole sat, yet it remained over the girl's knee as she hoisted her back off the couch.

"No, yesterday I tried to-"

Nicole again shook her head gently, moving her hand to grip the thigh across her leg. "It's okay, Wave. I get it." She smiled lightly, "I mean, I remember stumbling over my tongue the first time I tried to admit it as well."

Waverly let out a breath she hadn't been aware was caught in her throat. She had replay their conversation over in her head a hundred times since the previous afternoon.

"You're right; it is different for you." Nicole spoke softly. "I didn't mean to… I took my own frustration out on you; I'm sorry."

"Frustration?"

Nicole rolled her eyes, glancing around the room. "Nedley made me redo my report on getting kidnapped; he questioned my being here and," She paused briefly. "I mean, how am I supposed to tell my boss that I like it here so much because of one very beautiful, feisty Earp girl?"

A shock went through her body at Nicole's words, "Oh, no. No, no, we can't- We can't tell anybody."

She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected Nicole's reaction to be; it certainly wasn't a soft smile, a comforting hand against her elbow or a warm gaze. "Wave, it's okay. I get it."

"I'm not ready," Waverly spoke, her heart racing wildly at the thought of Purgatory knowing something else about her, something so private.

"It's alright; I'll be right here when you are ready." Nicole laid her hand against Waverly's cheek.

Waverly felt her body relax once more; even such a simple gesture from the older woman had already made her wonder exactly what spell Nicole had put over her. Whatever it was, she liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Wynonna never said anything about you being a… a gay. Oh, geez; you haven't told her._

Willa's words repeated over and over in her head as she drove her cruiser away from the Earp homestead. After the disastrous morning of trying to care for Waverly, smiling shyly at one another as the _smaller_ woman held her shirt up, Nicole found her typically amiable demeanor slipping. First aid was part of the training and she'd been doing a damn fine job of tending to Waverly's bullet graze.

 _Freaking Willa and her brainwashed hippie self._

The youngest Earp had admitted to being exhausted. She couldn't blame her really; one of the girls Wynonna had rescued from a cult had been their long-lost sister, a sister that had tormented her as a child, and who was now stealing Wynonna's attention- leaving her feeling very much abandoned once more.

"I don't get it," Waverly had said, leaning into her chest the night after Willa's return. "She hates me; it's like, I don't exist."

Nicole had tried to soothe her, whispering words of denial into the brunette's ear to no avail.

"She acts as if it's my fault our mother left us." Waverly sniffled before pulling away, looked deep into Nicole's eyes, and her lip started quivering. "Oh God, what if is my fault Momma left us?"

That one question had nearly caused her own tears to spill down her cheeks. Seeing Waverly in so much pain, she hadn't been prepared for it. However, she'd steeled her own emotions as she pulled the girl back into her arms, settled back into the cushions of the couch, and proceeded to press light kisses against her temple while whispering softly until both had fallen asleep.

 _Oh geez, you haven't told her._

She'd looked at Waverly in that moment and saw everything she'd needed to see. The brunette couldn't look at her and couldn't look at the accusing gaze of her eldest sister either. It was in that moment that she retreated, not giving any explanation, just knowing she had to get out of the barn. Her request for Waverly to call had been automatic; a response to offer her shoulder should she need it again after talking with Willa.

Pulling her cruiser into a parking spot outside of her apartment building, the rookie cop was suddenly struck with a horrible thought. Rather, two horrible thoughts.

The depressing ideas that had entered her thoughts did nothing to improve her mood. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as she walked the short distance to her doorway. It wasn't anything like the Earp homestead or Nedley's house. The whole studio apartment could fit in the living room of her childhood home. Yet, she'd been able to make it her own with shabby chic everything.

Exasperated, Nicole fell onto the couch in the center of the room. Laying her head back, her hand connected with the soft, warm body of her cat. The ¾ tail tabby Nicole had rescued from a shelter a year before rose her head and meowed without opening her mouth. Just weeks ago Sherriff Nedley had taken care of her for the night; or rather, he'd made sure she was fed and her litter box was clean.

 _She doesn't really like men._ Nicole had told him, leaving out that the feline had been abused by a trio of teenage boys which had led to her fear of men.

"What a morning, Janie." The tabby rose to her feet, stretched her front paws before climbing onto Nicole's chest and butted her head against the redhead's chin. She relaxed almost instantly, "I love you, too."

Nicole sat for another twenty minutes, absent-mindedly stroking the cat's neck and losing herself in the soft, rhythmic rumble of purs. It was only after she felt a gentle bite to her chin that she was pulled back to reality, climbing to her feet and nearly tripping over the excited feline as she pulled a box of kibble from an overhead cupboard.

Before she could dive into her breakfast, however, a knock at the door caused her to skitter across the floor and hide under the bed, peeking out briefly to meow forlornly to her full bowl.

"Waverly," Nicole said, finding the smaller girl standing outside her door.

The youngest Earp wasted no time as she pushed past the officer and began to pace the small apartment, rambling animatedly with her hands. "I can't believe I let myself believe she might have changed. I mean, it's been sixteen years but how do you forget the hell you put your six-year-old sister through?"

Nicole closed the door before leaning against it; deja vu hit her hard as it was the exact position she'd been in earlier in the Earp barn. "Do you believe she threatened to tell Wynonna? I mean, really; are we still kids?"

"Are you ashamed of me?"

The question was so unexpected that Waverly stopped her pacing and turned around to face Nicole. "What?"

"Is this some kind of experiment or something?" Nicole asked, fighting the urge to look away from the girl she'd fallen so hard for. "I mean, is that why you don't want Wynonna to know? Cause, let me tell you, I've been the curiosity rebound girl and I honestly don't think I'll survive that again."

Instantly she wanted to take the statement back as she saw tears flood Waverly's eyes, her head shaking ever so slightly. A voice -her voice- began to scream inside her head; Waverly Earp was the town sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a fly, the girl who stumbled over her words shyly when they first met… the girl who sucked the air out of Nicole's lungs from afar weeks before even meeting.

"Is that really what you think?" Waverly asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't really know what to think, Waverly." Nicole said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"I told you that I don't know how to do this; that it was different for me-"

"And I get that."

"Obviously you don't." Nicole felt like a lump take up residence in her throat at the sight of wet tracks sliding down Waverly's cheeks. "It's a small town and I already have eyes on me because of being an Earp. I'm the freak with an insane sister, who took courses in dead languages and questionable history."

Nicole moved away from the door, crossed the few feet that separated them, and took Waverly's jaw into her hands. "You're not a freak; this whole town loves you…"

The redhead swallowed as Waverly raised her hands to grip the forearms of her favorite deputy. "The whole town?"

She could feel her cheeks grow warm as blood rushed to tint the skin. Waverly's eyes ricocheted back and forth; it felt as if the girl was digging straight into her soul, what she was searching for, Nicole had no idea. It wasn't until she felt the girl pulling down on her arms and angling her chin up that she realized it didn't matter how long it took for Waverly to confide in her older sister, she had fallen head-over-heels for the girl in her arms.

Waverly pulled back only a single inch, her eyes still closed from the brief kiss, and whispered softly into the quiet room. "I don't care what the whole town thinks."


End file.
